Genie+ Priorities at EPCOT

We have crunched So. Many. Numbers. about Genie+. We know what availability looks like on pretty much any given day. We know how much time you can save at each attraction depending on the crowd level. We figured out what both of those things meant for overall time savings in a day. We even made a Genie+ stacking video with a Lord of the Rings mashup title on YouTube. Maybe you thought we were all Genie’d out.

I will preface all of this by saying that I always recommend booking what you enjoy, but I enjoy math. So I want a Genie reservation prioritization list powered by data. You may see other priority lists pop up on Disney sites, based on various things like previous experiences or gut feel. But this one is supported by … EQUATIONS. Strap in and enjoy the ride.

This post was last updated on February 27th to account for recent trends.

Explain the Math!

We can rank the Genie+ attractions in each park in different ways. In this post, I am going to aggregate three of those different measures by averaging them. Easy peasy.

1. Rank by average availability, ascending – the attraction in each park that usually sells out first will get rank 1, and the attraction in each park that has book now/ride now availability the most through the day will get the lowest rank.
2. Rank by average time savings, descending – the attraction in each park where Genie+ usually saves the most time compared to standby will get rank 1, and the attraction in each park where Genie+ usually saves the least time compared to standby will get the lowest rank.
3. Rank by attraction satisfaction, descending – the attraction in each park with the highest overall average satisfaction from the past two years will get rank 1, and the attraction in each park with the lowest overall average satisfaction from the past two years will get the lowest rank.

Ranking by availability and time saving is pretty easy, because we can pull that data from our most recent Genie+ analyses. You can find those results and how they were calculated here and here.

The last one is where things get a little tricky. At first, I used a straight rank from highest satisfaction through to lowest satisfaction (average of all satisfaction ratings from all demographics for the past two years). But after looking at the results, it didn’t really appropriately capture all of the complexity. It wasn’t fair to parks where several attractions had significantly higher satisfaction than all of the rest, or when one attraction has worse satisfaction by far than all the rest. So I created a linear regression where the top satisfaction score received a 1, and the lowest satisfaction score received the lowest possible rank (count of the Genie+ attractions in that park).  Then I used the resulting equation to convert the rest of the scores to a relative number between 1 and the worst possible rank.

Update: After feedback from readers, I’m expanding this linear comparison to all three metrics. So all will be linearly distributed between the lowest and highest ranks. We’ll see how this impacts the rankings!

Once I calculated all three ranks, then I averaged the three results and sorted from score that was closest to one all the way to the highest number. I used those averages to come up with the following prioritized list!

Prioritized List of EPCOT Genie+ Attractions

1. Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure

Availability Score = 1 out of 11

Time Savings Score = 1 out of 11

Satisfaction Score = 2.5 out of 11

As a now-permanent addition, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure has joined the Genie+ lineup at EPCOT. This is a big deal and takes EPCOT from an “avoid using Genie+ here, absolutely not worth it” to a “well, strongly consider it, if you can’t or don’t want to rope drop”. That’s thanks to what should be a lot more capacity, and now the opportunity to save a lot of cumulative time. We originally predicted that a Genie+ reservation would save you an average of 62 minutes compared to standby. In the past three months, we’ve seen the average actual savings turn out to be 63 minutes. Off by a minute? I’ll take those results. This is also way ahead of the other two good time-savers (Frozen Ever After and Test Track) at EPCOT.

And unlike my original predication, Remy is selling out much much faster than Test Track or Frozen Ever After. In fact, it’s even selling out faster than any other attraction at Walt Disney World. Totally crazy. The availability issues combined with the time savings make it an easy first pick, assuming it’s something that your party is actually interested in experiencing.

 

2. Test Track

Availability Score = 2.9 out of 11

Time Savings Score = 4.9 out of 11

Satisfaction Score = 1.6 out of 11

Test Track has long standby waits, relatively poor availability (often selling out around by 11 am), and is unreliable thanks to the weather. This initially made it the obvious choice for what to book first if you’re using Genie+ at EPCOT. But its time savings pale in comparison to Remy and Frozen Ever After, and that may finally be convincing people to use their reservations for those attractions and just try to time their Test Track wait for a low-crowd time (hello Early Entry and Extended Evening Theme Park Hours). If time savings alone are most important to you (or if you have small kids), Frozen and Remy should both take priority. Still, satisfaction and time savings are both trending slightly up here, so expect it to hold on to second place.

 

3. Frozen Ever After

Availability Score = 2.9 out of 11

Time Savings Score = 3.5 out of 11

Satisfaction Score = 4.8 out of 11

Frozen Ever After, like Remy, used to be an Individual Lightning Lane, and for good reason. You can save large amounts of time by using it, and probably your little kids aren’t eligible for Test Track anyway.

Realistically, once the “novelty” of Remy wears off, we expect that Remy, Frozen and Test Track should all have similar demand and sell out around the same time, so you’re most likely going to have to pick one and then hope you can pick up the others when you’re first eligible, or with a sneaky refresh of availability or cancellation later in the day. As it stands, on most days you’ll be able to select two of them, at best.

 

4. Soarin’

Availability Score = 10.1 out of 11

Time Savings Score = 6.9 out of 11

Satisfaction Score = 1 out of 11

Now we begin the list of attractions that almost never sell out ever. And thanks to its third theater, and the relative lower popularity of the “Around the World” version compared to the original, Soarin’ doesn’t usually generate the crazy standby lines that Test Track, Remy, or Frozen Ever After do. That means you can’t save as much time.

That being said, its satisfaction scores still totally beat the first three entries on this list. So while it might not be as important from a time savings perspective, you are definitely going to want to experience Soarin’ during your EPCOT day. Whether you’ll need Genie+ to do it is up to you. My personal take? I’d use Genie+ at Test Track, Remy and Frozen if possible, standby for Soarin’ unless it’s a crazy day, and then start stacking for another park.

 

5. Mission: SPACE

Availability Score = 10.7 out of 11

Time Savings Score = 8.0 out of 11

Satisfaction Score = 6.8 out of 11

A semi-controversial pick here at number five with Mission: SPACE. If you struggle with motion sickness or small spaces, ignore this entry altogether. But if you can handle those things and are a space geek (I happily include myself in that list), Mission: SPACE is a decent choice. It will only sometimes book up for the day a few hours before closing. It isn’t incredibly popular, though, so you’ll probably only save 20 minutes or less compared to standby.

 

6. Turtle Talk with Crush

Availability Score =10 out of 11

Time Savings Score = 11 out of 11

Satisfaction Score = 4.5 out of 11

For those keeping track at home, here’s where I draw the line of priorities not really mattering anymore. Any differences between the remaining attractions are really negligible. I’ll continue to rank them because … MATH, but if you’re still using Genie+ reservations at EPCOT at this point on the list, you’re in the very tiny minority. Often it’s not worth the hassle.

Turtle Talk still has the worst time savings of any attraction in EPCOT. Its satisfaction scores have been creeping upward, though. Enough for it to barely leapfrog Spaceship Earth to come in 6th place. For once, I’m suggesting that you ignore the math, unless a conversation with Crush really is just a huge priority for your group.

 

7. Spaceship Earth

Availability Score = 11 out of 11

Time Savings Score = 8.9 out of 11

Satisfaction Score = 5.7 out of 11

Spaceship Earth almost never sells out of Genie+ availability, so it’s not prioritized quite as high as Mission: SPACE, which sometimes does sell out an hour or two before closing. And the time savings is generally worse, averaging something around 10 or 15 minutes.

If you’re at EPCOT on a high crowd day and already in the area with a reservation to spare, chances are you can pick this one up and use it immediately, avoiding whatever standby line exists. I’d call this a reservation to use opportunistically as time allows.

 

8. Short Film Festival

Availability Score = 11 out of 11

Time Savings Score = 11 out of 11

Satisfaction Score = 3.7 out of 11

I will go on the record saying that you will never need Genie+ to access the Short Film Festival. Watch them on Disney+ at home. But, sneaky tip: Mickey has a meet and greet in this exact area too. And most people think you have to watch the films to see Mickey. You don’t! Just walk around the side and enjoy your Mickey time. Easiest way to see Mickey on property.

 

9. Living with the Land

Availability Score = 11 out of 11

Time Savings Score = 9.9 out of 11

Satisfaction Score = 5.7 out of 11

Despite the fact that Living with the Land is one of the most awesome attractions at WDW, it doesn’t typically draw large crowds of hyrdoponics fans. Weird. It keeps immediate availability basically all day, and won’t generally save you a lot of time. That being said, its satisfaction score has recently been improving! The Becky advice: ride this ride, just don’t use Genie+ to do it, unless you walk up to the line, it happens to be long, it has immediate reservation availability and you happen to be able to make a reservation.

 

10. The Seas with Nemo and Friends

Availability Score = 11 out of 11

Time Savings Score = 9.3 out of 11

Satisfaction Score = 8.7 out of 11

Coming in 10th place is the Seas with Nemo and Friends. Should you experience the main Seas tanks and exhibits while at EPCOT? 100% yes! Do you have to do the ride in order to access them? Nope! If you haven’t done it before, and/or have big Nemo fans in the group, then by all means go for it. But unless the attraction is having reliability issues, you won’t need to use Genie+ to do it.

An interesting side note here – The introduction of Remy to the Genie+ pool hasn’t had a significant impact on availability or time savings for any attraction … other than The Seas. My Becky hypothesis? More families with young kids are using Genie+ at EPCOT thanks to Remy and Frozen. The Seas is an attractive option for that demographic if you know nothing else about its wait times, so it may be luring that new audience in.

 

11. Journey Into Imagination

Availability Score = 11 out of 11

Time Savings Score = 10.3 out of 11

Satisfaction Score = 11 out of 11

As a lifelong Figment fan (seriously, not an exaggeration), this one pains me. But I also agree with it. Journey into Imagination is a shell of its former self. And if you weren’t familiar with its former self, you still have to be okay with permeating skunk stench to enjoy this version of it. Shockingly, there are no large crowds of people wanting to experience that. You can pretty much always book it with immediately availability if you so choose. But even if you do, you might save something like 4 minutes compared to standby.

Becky anecdote of the day: I once took my 18-month-old on the ride while my husband waited outside because I demanded that she must experience Figment, no matter the cost. We got stuck in the skunk room for over 10 minutes. I cross my fingers every day that that memory is not the Disney memory that sticks with her for the rest of life.

 

What Does This Mean For You?

1. With the addition of Remy to the Genie+ menu at EPCOT, more of an argument can be made to use it here. You can save significant time at Remy, Frozen, Test Track, and potentially Soarin’. But your best time-saving trick at EPCOT is still Early Entry. You can easily knock out Frozen and Remy before official park opening, and then you just have future world standby queues to contend with.
2. This also means that EPCOT is the hardest park for making effective use of Genie+. It has a whole three attractions where Genie+ is truly worthwhile … and all three book up remarkably quickly compared to attractions at any other park. If you’re going to buy Genie+ on an EPCOT day, have a plan – and potentially research times at which more reservations get released in the afternoon to try to “game” the system.
3. Like at Animal Kingdom, there are many other activities, attractions and shows that score much higher in satisfaction than the majority of the Genie+ options. If you don’t purchase Genie+ and the crowds descend, spend your time exploring World Showcase. You can easily fill a whole day and not be stuck in queues.
4. The popularity of Remy hasn’t calmed down yet. It still sells out quickly, and still saves you more time than Frozen Ever After or Test Track. Perhaps it’s going to hold on to its first place for a while.

Have you used Genie+ in EPCOT? Do you agree with these rankings or would yours be different? Let me know in the comments! And check back on the blog for similar lists for other WDW parks.